Why Hosting Locally in the UK Matters

There are two metrics that make or break your website’s speed test from the UK:

Latency

Download Time

Latency is the time it takes for a computer’s network to reach your website’s server. The longer the distance between the user’s computer and your website’s server, the larger this time will be.

The second metric on our list is the download time. Download time is the amount of time it takes for the browser to download your website’s files (HTML, CSS, etc.) This time depends on the latency and the size of your files.

If you aren’t a computer geek like me, then here’s the short and sweet take-home message:

Latency will kill your website’s speed.

If you want your website to load up as fast as possible for your local users, then you need to host your site on a server that is local to you.

Reducing round-trip time latency for UK site visitors is key, as the closer the server is to the site visitor, the faster the site will load

If you don’t believe me, have a look at the below screenshot:

As you can see, the time it takes for our site to load increases based on the distance.

Another great benefit that isn’t that often talked about is that when your website goes down you will get local support. When your website is hosted with a local web hosting provider, you can call them up any time without worrying about the time difference.

And you can be pretty sure that your call won’t be forwarded to some call center in India or a similar third-world country.

When Does It Make Sense To Host a Website Locally

If most of your website visitors are from the same city or the same country, then it makes sense to host your website in a location that will be the closest to most of them.

On the other hand, if most of your website visitors are from outside your country say in Australia or Canada, then it makes sense to host your website on a server that is situated in that country.

Still confused?

If your business is a local restaurant, then it makes sense to find a website hosting provider in your country, in this case, in the UK.

Best Web Hosting in the UK

Here I am going to show you which web hosting company is the best for small businesses and startups operating in the United Kingdom.

UK web hosting comparison table

This table gives you a handy comparison of the top 10 website hosts I have reviewed.

3. A2 Hosting (Best performance and cheap web host)

A2 hosting has data centers all around the world. Their offerings include Shared Hosting, Managed Hosting, VPS Servers, Dedicated Servers, and WordPress Hosting.

Started in 2001.

Servers available in Amsterdam.

A2 Hosting offers excellent high performance and high speed web hosting, and all plans come with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. Their Turbo Servers give you 20x faster loading pages. You can reach their support team 24/7 via Email, Phone, and Live Chat.

If you’re already hosting your website with some other web host, you can get it migrated to A2 Hosting for free by experts. No need to do it yourself. Just contact their support team and they will do it for you for free with no downtime.

Their shared hosting plans come with cPanel to help you manage your website and server with ease. cPanel makes managing your website quick and easy. All their plans come with a free let’s encrypt certificate that you can install with just a few clicks.

Speed Test From UK:

Pros:

Offers services for businesses of all sizes. Their offerings include VPS, Managed Hosting and Shared Hosting.

Unlimited Bandwidth and Disk Space.

1-Click script installer to install WordPress and other CMS platforms within just a few seconds.

Phone and live chat support available 24/7 support.

Free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate you can install with just a few clicks.

Cons:

Only 5 databases allowed on the basic shared hosting plan.

Higher renewal fees.

Basic Plan Specs:

1 Website.

Unlimited Disk Space.

Unmetered Bandwidth.

5 MySQL Databases.

Free site migration by experts.

Plans start from £3.05 a month. VPS servers starting at £3.90 a month.

No need to settle for the free themes that come with WordPress. Every WP Engine plan comes with the Genesis theme framework for WordPress and 35+ themes. These themes are worth well over $500. If you decide to hire a designer to make a similar theme, it will cost you at least $5,000.

WP Engine is offering 4 months free on every plan until 30th November. Sign up before the offer ends.

Speed Test From UK:

Pros:

Get 4 months free on our annual Startup, Growth, and Scale plans (or 20% off your first month on monthly plans) when you use coupon code wpe3free.

5. Cloudways (Best budget WordPress hosting in the UK)

Website: www.cloudways.com

Price: From $10/month

UK Data Centers: Yes, London

Phone: No phone (can request a call)

Cloudways delivers budget friendly, secure and high performance focused managed WordPress hosting. With Cloudways managed cloud hosting service, you can choose from 5 different cloud service providers including Digital Ocean, Linode, and Amazon Web Services. They also offer 24/7 expert customer support you can reach via phone, live chat, and email.

Multiple data centers around the world including dozens in the UK.

Affordable managed cloud hosting service.

Their plans come with Managed backups, free Cloudways CDN service, and Managed security. If you have wanted to host your blog on fast VPS servers but don’t know how to manage a VPS, Cloudways is the best choice for you.

They allow you to choose a VPS from one of 5 cloud service providers and then they manage the service for you. They allow you to install WordPress and other site management software like Magento with just a few clicks.

They also offer a free SSL certificate you can install in only one click.

Speed Test From UK:

Pros:

Very easy to scale your website.

Free Cloudways WordPress migrator plugin you can use to migrate your site to Cloudways with just a few clicks.

24/7 expert support you can reach any time via phone or email or live chat.

8. HostGator (Cheapest UK web hosting)

Website: www.hostgator.com

Price: From £2.15/month

UK Data Centers: No, are in the US

Phone: International +1 713-574-5287

HostGator has been in business for a very long time. Their hosting plans are not only affordable but they also come with dozens of great features. Even their most basic plan offers unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth.

All their plans come with unlimited email accounts and free website migration service. Their plans offer one-click install for more than 52 scripts such as WordPress and Joomla. You also get a free SSL certificate you can install with just one click.

When you sign up for HostGator, you get $100 in free Ads credit for Google and for Bing. You also get a 45-day money back guarantee. They offer 24/7/365 support via phone and live chat.

Speed Test From UK:

Pros:

1-Click install available for 52 site management software such as WordPress and Magento.

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About Matt Ahlgren

Hi 👋 I'm Matt. I'm an online marketer and web developer who write reviews and tutorials on web hosting, wordpress, online marketing and web development because I wanna help people run their own websites better. You can contact me directly at hello[at]websitehostingrating[dot]com